Sleeping To Forget
by Aurora Lenore
Summary: Book 5 in the Egg-cellent Adventure series. Still coping with the emotional aftermath of their recent traumatic experiences, Bianca and Larry are finding it hard to sleep. But Greg's plan to try to help them with a special sleep medicine may backfire and inadvertently cause permanent damage to their relationships.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Balki Bartokomous was thirsty for vengeance. He lowered his weapon and waited patiently as the victim came into his sights. Finger steady on the trigger, he closed one eye and aimed at the smirking creature in front of him. "You have elevated me for the last time!" he cried out before pulling the trigger expertly, the bullet quickly finding its target.

"You mean evaded and that was really _good_, Balki," Lydia Markham cheered as she sat beside him on the sofa. "Now let me at that little monkey. I'll pretend it's my ex-boyfriend Trevor's _butt_!"

Balki and Lydia had been playing the small shooting range game for almost thirty minutes now and Balki had already lost track of how many ex-boyfriends she 'shot'. Balki had found the game at a rummage sale on his way home from the grocery store and couldn't wait to play it with his cousin, Larry Appleton. Larry, however, was working late at the _Chicago Chronicle_, so Balki called Lydia to see if she wanted to play.

"So, Balki, is it just me or is Larry working at the paper all the time? Ever since the two of you got back from your trip overseas, he's been glued to his desk chair," Lydia pointed out.

"No, Cousin didn't glue himself to the desk chair. He just working a lot to get his mind off of-" Balki stopped before he mentioned Bianca Pierson's name. Only a week ago, Balki had found out that she and Larry were more than just friends, despite the fact that Larry already _had_ a girlfriend. But while Jennifer Lyons had been away with Balki's girlfriend Mary Anne Spencer in Canada, Larry and Bianca had developed feelings for one another. Balki was disappointed in both of them for cheating on Jennifer, but Larry was hurt that Jennifer hadn't called more than two or three times. Mary Anne had called at least seven. Larry assumed that Jennifer had found someone else and had told Balki "turnabout is fair play". While Balki wasn't sure what that meant, he figured it meant Larry was trying to ease his guilt by blaming Jennifer.

"Oh, that's right. Jennifer and Mary Anne are still in Canada. How silly of me," Lydia replied bashfully before handing him the gun. "Well, it's your turn. I nailed Bobby, Ricardo, Trevor and Peter right in the-"

Suddenly, the door opened and Balki turned to see Larry, looking haggard and frail. He still had stubble on his face and his clothes were wrinkled. "Oh, hi, Cousin. Lydia and I were just-"

"Balki, what are you _doing_? Put that away! Put it away _now_!" Larry rushed over to Balki, his eyes wild. "I don't want to see that thing ever again!"

"Cousin, it's only a toy-" Balki began, but Larry cut him off.

"I _said_ put it away, Balki!" he shouted angrily before storming off to his bedroom and slamming the door.

"What's _his_ problem?" Lydia scoffed, jerking her thumb towards the bedroom door.

Balki felt bad for not being able to tell her the truth. He hated keeping Bianca a secret from everyone, but Larry and Bianca convinced him it was for the best, considering Bianca was from the year two thousand thirteen. "He just fell on the wrong side of his head this morning," Balki replied, staring at Larry's bedroom door sadly. How he wished that was the _only_ thing wrong with Larry.

* * *

Larry lay back on his bed and swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. How could Balki bring home that-that _thing_, knowing what Larry had witnessed? Had Balki no heart? No soul? No consideration? Ever since he watched as two people were shot and killed, their bodies lying on the ground in a pool of blood, just the mere sight of guns made his stomach turn in knots. Knots so complex, that even his antacid couldn't cure it. Larry rolled over on his side and glanced at the picture on the round nightstand by his alarm clock. It was a photo of him and Jennifer, taken only four months earlier. Their smiles were bright and their eyes shone of mutual admiration. Feeling a pang of guilt, he placed the frame with the picture side down and pulled his wallet out of his pants pocket. Quickly fishing through the contents, he found the photo of Bianca, the same one he showed to strangers when she had been abducted. He smiled at the copper ringlets of hair that framed her porcelain face, that perfect smile that would have melted ice cubes in Alaska and those sparkling blue eyes that he found himself lost in many times. He saw her two days ago, but his heart literally ached for her already. He remembered how excited she had been when she found out Greg Kitchens, her grandfather's apprentice, had saved her robot R.O.B. from the fire that destroyed her home. He hated that she was living with Greg in the year two thousand thirteen while he was stuck without her in nineteen eighty seven. Not that Greg was a _bad_ guy. Quite the contrary, given that he had helped Larry uncover the truth about Bianca's grandfather and helped them all when Bianca and her grandfather were held captive by her half-cousin. Even though Greg was practically a saint didn't mean that Larry had to like Bianca's living arrangements. He would have preferred her living with her grandfather, or better yet, living in the apartment with he and Balki.

Suddenly, a knock at the door startled Larry and he quickly shoved the photo back in his wallet and threw it on the nightstand.

"Cousin, you asleep?" Balki asked softly on the other side.

Larry thought for a minute about remaining quiet in hopes Balki would think he was asleep, but he sighed. "No, Balki. I'm just resting."

Balki took that as a sign to enter and gently opened the door. "Cousin, I'm sorry about that carnival game Lydia and I were playing. If I knew it would make you jump off the deep end, I wouldn't have brought it home."

"It's okay, Balki. It-it wasn't the _game_ that upset me as much as it was the-"

"The dart gun," Balki finished. "Oh, Cousin. I should have realized you were still shaken not stirred by the thought and sight of guns. Can you forgive me?"

Larry sighed and sat up. "Of course I forgive you, Balki."

"Oh, boy am I retrieved!" Balki clutched his heart and sighed in relief before sitting beside Larry. "Cousin, I'm worried about you. You work all day and the only times you come home are to sleep and when you know Bianca is visiting. And I tell you why Mary Anne say Jennifer hasn't called you: she has Larry-ite-is!"

"That's _laryngitis_, Balki and I understand that, but she's not calling me _now_, is she? Just face it, the woman who I thought loved me has changed. She doesn't give a damn about Larry Appleton anymore."

"Oh po po. Cousin, that is such a far crime from the truth. If _anyone_ changed, it's you. Cousin, I know you like Bianca, but you already _have_ a girlfriend! You know what you and Bianca are doing is wrong. You should either break up with Jennifer or Bianca. You can't go around silly stringing them along."

Larry ran his hand through his hair. "You think I don't _know_ that, Balki? I realize I have to choose, but I-I just need time to process everything. I love them _both_."

Balki stood up and stretched. "As long as you know you have to choose, Cousin."

Larry looked up at Balki, a flash of hope in his eyes. "Did, uh, Bianca come while I was at work? Have you heard from her?"

"No, Cousin. But Bianca say she will be here tomorrow with bells on. I hope she will play us a nice jingle," Balki replied before laughing and raising his arms in the air. "Where do I come _up_ with them?"

Larry smiled wryly. "I really have no idea. But I wonder what Bianca is doing now? Knowing her, she's either working on a new invention or working on her web design business." _Whatever it is, it's got to be more fun than what I'm doing, _Larry added silently to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Bianca pressed her cheek against the cold tile floor and moaned. How many drinks did she have? Five? Six? Ten? She remembered pouring the bottle of whiskey into a tiny shot glass she found in Greg's cupboard, but the only thing she remembered afterward was the whiskey coming back up. Why did she even decide to drink, anyway? Normally, she hated alcohol. _But I guess when you and your grandfather get kidnapped by your sick half-cousin, you watch your friend die and the man you are falling for already has someone else, you find new hobbies,_ she thought bitterly. It didn't help to learn earlier that her aforementioned sick half-cousin succumbed to the tumor that affected his behavior. Her hateful-yet-remorseful Aunt Liv's dying request was for Bianca to protect her son Jacob "J.J." Langley at all costs and she couldn't do it. Even though it was his fault mostly. If he hadn't been so jealous and sick enough to kidnap her, she might have been able to help him before it was too late.

As she heard Greg's cuckoo clock strike eleven, she knew she needed to peel herself off his bathroom floor and brush her teeth. She had a meeting with a potential client tomorrow, thanks to her biggest fan and flamboyant friend/art dealer Serge. Serge had promised her more business and he had delivered. She already had five calls in less than forty eight hours from people interested in her web design skills. If only time-hopping and binge drinking weren't so exhausting!

Suddenly, the phone rang and she moaned, reaching her arm out as if to grab it in mid-air. "R.O.B., answer the phone," she slurred loudly to her loyal robot.

"Miss Bianca, an Alek Remmler is on the phone asking for you," R.O.B. entered a minute later, extending the cordless phone to her.

"Hello?" she asked, placing the phone to her ear with as little movement as possible.

"Bianca, are you alright? You sound ill," Alek queried.

"Oh, yeah. I'm staying alive," she slurred. "What's happening?"

Alek laughed nervously and Bianca knew he realized what was wrong with her. "I just wanted you to know that Jacob's will is being read tomorrow and I thought since you and Henry are family, you would want to come."

"You really think he left anything in his will to _us_? He _hated_ us! Besides, I have a meeting with a client tomorrow if I can get rid of this pesky hangover in time."

"You don't have to come, but the invitation is open to you, Henry and even Greg if he wants to come. Usually it's just for family, but I figured what the hell, you know?"

Bianca closed her eyes and mentally nodded in agreement. "Okay. I'll see. What time?"

Alek chuckled. "Think you can get rid of your pesky hangover by four o'clock?"

"I'll work on it. Thanks, Alek. Bye-bye," she replied before pressing the button to end the call. Not thinking, she quickly sat up and handed the phone back to R.O.B. "Here you-ohhhh," she moaned before once again hugging the proverbial porcelain throne.

* * *

"Ah, Greg; what brings you by?"

Greg entered into his mentor Henry Pierson's home and followed him into the living room. "Well, I was just wondering if-"

"Sorry. Just move the Selective Memory Eraser out of the way and have a seat," Henry interrupted, gesturing to an amber easy chair where a mechanism that looked like a cross between a cross bow and a dart gun lay.

Greg gingerly picked it up as if it would bite and carefully laid it on the floor next to him. "Cause _that's_ not creepy at all," he muttered before sitting down. At least knowing an inventor meant there was never a dull moment. "Actually," he began again in his normal voice, "I was hoping you could help me out. Remember when you gave me that pill to slip into Larry's drink to alter his dreams? Well, I don't need that again, but I was hoping for something similar."

Henry nodded before leaning forward in his own chair. "Continue."

Greg folded and unfolded his hands nervously on his lap. Why was this so difficult? It wasn't like he was asking for marijuana or opiates. "Well, you see, Bianca has been having a bit of trouble sleeping lately, but she won't _take_ anything. She says the same about Larry. I mean, Larry might have a little Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after the whole-you know-but I just thought that maybe…" Greg trailed off, wanting to kick himself for rambling.

Henry leaned back in his chair and scratched his chin. "Greg, I understand you want to help B and Larry, but do you really think drugging them is the best way to go? When I asked you to slip my REM sleep alteration pill into Larry's tea, it was because I wanted to warn him and help him save Bianca and tell her I was still alive. But to drug two people just because they can't sleep? That's dishonest."

"No more dishonest than doing it to Larry, help or no help," Greg found himself blurting out. _Oh, crap; I just said that out loud to my boss. Well, it was nice knowing me,_ he thought bitterly, wishing he could use an invention to rewind his famous last words.

To his surprise, shock, horror, and relief, Henry threw back his head and laughed. "Greg, I like you. You are a funny guy. But you're right; it _was_ dishonest to slip the drug into his drink. Truth is, I was thinking about doing something similar for Larry just the other day. Bianca says he can't even _look_ at a gun without getting rattled."

"So, you're okay with it? You'll give me a couple?" Greg asked hopefully.

"I propositioned the thought regarding Larry, but B is my granddaughter. I'm not sure I feel good about you drugging my girl. Are you sure she's not sleeping?"

Greg wasn't sure what felt worse: sticking his flip-flop covered foot in his mouth or feeling as if he were about to be interrogated. "Of _course_ I'm sure. S-she lives with me, so I see stuff-wait; not like that-I mean, you know. I hear her raiding the fridge at three in the morning and working on her web sites from dusk till dawn. She is going through at least four pots of coffee a day and I think she's taking up residence at Starbucks, too."

Henry stood up and patted Greg on the shoulder. "I think _you_ need to lay off the coffee, my friend. The pills are in the medicine cabinet in my bathroom. They should be labeled accordingly. I think there should be a new bottle of sleeping pills. Take them, but if you get caught, I know nothing."

Greg stood up. "Thanks. I promise I'll be careful with them. I just want them to sleep well."

As he made his way into the bathroom, he felt glad he had stopped by to ask Bianca's genius grandfather for assistance. Even though Bianca and Larry would never know that he was behind it, he would feel better just knowing they got much needed rest.

_Okay, he said it was labeled accordingly, but my God!_ he thought as he opened the cabinet and saw at least sixty generic brown pill bottles lining the shelves. He could feel his eyes growing blurry as he scrolled past label after label.

"A-ha!" he cried as he finally found the one he was looking for. As he reached for it, however, he knocked the bottle next to it off the shelf and both of them tumbled to the floor. Cursing, he grabbed them and put the other bottle back before closing the medicine cabinet and stuffing the original bottle in his pocket. "Thank you, Henry. I owe you," he whispered as he exited the room, whistling.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Larry stirred the pot of vegetable soup and glanced at the phone. "Come on, Appleton; just call your girlfriend in Canada and tell her the truth," he chastised himself. "Tell her that you met someone new and get it over with."

Placing the wooden spoon back on the spoon holder and wiping his hands on the dishtowel over his shoulder, he picked up the phone and dialed the strange numerical number for her room in Ontario. One ring. Two…

Quickly Larry hung up. "Oh, well; she's not home. What a shame."

"Do you always talk to yourself or is it just the soup making you do it?" a voice from the living room joked.

Larry jumped. "Greg! What on Earth are _you_ doing here?" he asked. "Is Bianca here?"

"Well, hello to you, too, and no Bianca isn't here. She's feeling…under the weather today," Greg replied. "She asked me to check up on you and so here I am. Soup smells delicious."

"Well, there's not enough for you," Larry retorted, although he knew Greg could see by the depth of the pot, there was more than enough.

"Didn't come for veggies and broth. I just came to say hello. Bianca said to tell you hello and that she is thinking about you."

Larry smiled involuntarily. "I'm thinking about her, too. She's not very ill, is she? If she wants, I can have you take her home some of this soup."

"Oh, but yet, there wasn't enough for me," Greg laughed. "No, she'll be fine. She's just really tired. You know her; works too long and too hard and then crashes for hours on end."

"Greg!" Balki cried happily as he exited his bedroom and saw him. "It's so good to _see_ you!"

"Good to see you, too, Balki," Greg nodded as he was embraced by Balki's hug.

Larry rolled his eyes and returned to stir the soup. Balki liked anybody, whether they be serial killers or nice guys who are just too close to other people's girlfriends.

"Look, Balki and I need to go pick up our laundry and run an errand really quick. Can you stay here and mind the soup?" Larry finally asked with a sigh.

"Cousin, I don't think the soup is going to tell Greg what to do, but he can watch it and make sure it don't boil over," Balki replied.

"Yeah, I think I can do that," Greg nodded again, walking over to the kitchen.

"And Greg? It doesn't need any more salt or pepper," Larry stated as Greg was just reaching for the small shakers on the bar. "Just watch it."

* * *

As Larry left the apartment with Balki in tow, he couldn't help but wonder if the task of watching soup would be too much for Greg. If Greg couldn't watch soup, what made Bianca's grandfather possibly think he could watch over Bianca?

Greg breathed a sigh of relief as soon as they were gone, but he knew he had a job to do. All he had to do was make a nice cup of tea for both of them and then make sure Larry took the cup with the sleeping pill. No big deal. So easy, a baby could do it.

Humming the theme song to _Mission: Impossible_, he found the tea bags and began to put a kettle of water on the stove to boil. He involuntarily stuck out his tongue at the plain Lipton tea bags. One of the many reasons he enjoyed being from the year two thousand thirteen was that Greg much preferred eucalyptus tea to just plain hot or cold tea.

A few minutes later and Greg had set two teacups atop two saucers on the bar. "We'll have Larry's on the left," he mumbled, pulling the medicine bottle from his pocket.

"What is the matter with this lid? It won't come _off_," he grunted, as he struggled with the small white cap. "It says childproof, but I think it means _Greg Kitchens proof_!"

Suddenly, the lid flew off and pills went everywhere. Greg looked down into the vegetable soup and gasped. At least four pills had fallen in the pot and were dissolving rapidly. "Oh, no. _Now_ what am I going to do? This is a _disaster!_"

"What's a disaster?"

"Nothing, nothing. I-aah!" Greg jumped to find Larry in the doorway. "Geez, you scared me!"

"Yeah, it's not fun, is it?" Larry quipped. "I just came back to get my clipboard. You never know when you might need it. So, what did you mean by saying this was a disaster?"

Greg frantically searched his brain until he found a plausible excuse. "I was just thinking about everything with Jacob. He died yesterday and now Alek asked Henry and Bianca to go to the reading of his will. Total waste of time, but the whole thing is just a big disaster."

"Oh, I didn't know. Tell Bianca I'm sorry for her loss, but I still can't feel a lot of sympathy toward the guy. He was crazy and made our lives hell. Tumor or no tumor, he is still responsible for-well, _everything_," Larry replied, physically shuddering before grabbing his clipboard and leaving quickly.

Greg stirred the pot of vegetable soup and laughed bitterly. "Well, by tonight, you won't even remember we _had_ this little chat. You and Balki will be in a vegetable soup and drug-induced coma. And this accident was brought to you by the letters oh-em-gee." At least he hoped Serge was having an easier time with Bianca.

* * *

"And so I thought we could move the photo of the rotating Zeus with the top hat over there and slide that _marvelous_ painting of the half-alien-half-mermaid up to the top because it is too _spectacular_ of a piece to have to scroll down to view, don't you think?" Serge knew he was gushing as he and Bianca sat in his penthouse in front of his laptop, but he couldn't help it. He knew he had Bianca to thank for his recent boom in business at the gallery. As he looked to his left, however, sitting in one of his outlandish martini-glass shaped chairs, he could tell that her mind was elsewhere. "Bianca, my dear, are you even paying attention?"

Bianca jumped at her name and looked over at him. "Uh, yeah; sure. You want the painting thing moved," she murmured.

Serge clapped his hands together briskly, like a flamenco dancer would do. "You know what you need? You need one of my famous espressos with a leh-mon _twist_. I'll make you one right now; I got the time." He then grabbed her hands, pulling her to his feet. "You, _come_, come; look at my music collection, breathe in the enchantment of the room, take a load off. I'll be right back, so don't go _anywhere_."

As soon as Serge entered his kitchen/mini-bar, he got busy making his infamous espresso. He missed the old Bianca Pierson; the one with the fire in her eyes and passion in her soul. She was a firecracker with reddish-brown hair and he grew to love her dearly. But after she left the Longhorn Castle in England, she had become but a mere shell of her former self. "But hopefully, all she needs is a good forty-winks and she'll be as good as new," he whispered as he took the pill Greg had given him from his pocket and slipped it into her drink. He hated drugging people, but his old boss, Victor Maitland had forced him to do it many times. Now that he was his own boss, he was doing it yet again, but this time, there was no threat of life or limb. Just the possibility to save a dear friend's smoldering flame. In fact, her flame was dying so quickly, Serge decided to slip in another pill, just for good measure. What harm could one more sleeping pill in a caffeinated drink do?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Cousin, wake up; you're going to miss the part where Murdock escapes from the mental warden again," Balki yawned as he sat on the couch next to Larry.

"Balki," Larry moaned, waving him off as he sat with his head resting against the back of the sofa, "I'm too _tired_ to watch _The A-Team_. I'm too tired to even say it."

Balki yawned again, but was determined to watch the rest of their favorite hour long show. He had to admit that he was just as exhausted as Larry, but they didn't have a VCR or a futuristic DVR like the one Bianca had, so Balki had no other option but to finish. He looked over at Larry, who had his eyes closed, mouth open and a bit of drool forming on the corner of his mouth. "Cousin! If you can't wait another forty-five minutes to get your forty tiddlywinks, then at least go to bed! You're drooling on the couch."

Larry jolted awake. "Wha-? Did you say Bianca was here?"

Balki sighed. "Cousin, go to bed. Put on your pajamas and go to bed!"

"But the bedroom is so far away," Larry whined.

Balki rolled his eyes and yawned again before he effortlessly picked his cousin up from the couch and carried him in his arms to the bedroom. Once inside, Balki dropped him onto the bed before collapsing across the foot of the mattress. "Cousin?"

"Yes, Balki?"

"I have nothing more to give!"

Larry groaned. "Balki, why are we so tired? All we had was vegetable soup and water…or was it tea?"

Balki didn't move from where he lay on his stomach, face pressed onto the bedspread. "Cousin, Greg made us tea, remember? He said he'd watch the vegetable sop while we ran our earrings," he mumbled.

Larry yawned. " _Errands_, Balki; while we ran our-oh my Lord! Remind me as soon as I wake up to murder Greg Kitchens."

Balki managed to pick himself up and stumble to the bedroom door. "Cousin, you can't kill Greg. It would be a federal defense and you would go to jail. Can't believe you would want to hurt a nice man like Greg who made us tea and watched over our soup and Bianca-"

Balki's sentence was interrupted, however, by the sound of Larry snoring. He wasn't sure why Larry disliked Greg so much, but he was too tired to care. Right now, his biggest feat would be to retreat to his own room, put on his pajamas and curl into bed before passing out.

* * *

Bianca couldn't hear what Serge was saying on the phone to Greg, but it sounded serious. Which made her giggle like a schoolgirl. She liked sleeping over at Serge's house. Not that she'd ever done it before, but she made a mental note to do it more often. His guestroom had a large circular bed in it and the ceiling above was mostly windows, so she could look up and see the stars twinkling in the night sky. In the daytime, he had a button on his wall that made a little piece of the ceiling slide and cover the skylight. She smiled wistfully at the thought. When she was able to build her new house, she would have a room just like this, sliding ceiling and all. _It's a good thing I skipped Jacob's silly little will-reading today. Spending the day with Serge was much more fun. Just saying his name is fun: Serge, Serge, Serge. Serge the art-dealer. Serge the espresso-making Wildman. Serge the ladies' man. Or is that not right? Who cares? He's got great hair,_ she thought, giggling sporadically. She couldn't figure out why she was so sleepy. She wasn't just sleepy. She was "I stayed up so late that I now find everything hysterical and am seeing pink elephants wearing polka-dotted underpants" sleepy.

"Serge!" she called, although she could barely hear herself for the mental voice screaming to go to sleep.

"You are still awake? Oh my," Serge rushed in, but Bianca could barely see him for the thick fog in front of her. She waved it away and giggled.

"Was I supposed to be asleep? Shhh, I think I am," she replied before flopping back on the bed laughing hysterically.

"Please go to _sleep_, Miss Bianca," he whined.

Bianca buzzed her lips together. "Okay. Let me just get a glass of water. You won't have to twist my arm or anything. Cause that would hurt," she giggled again.

"No, no. You stay right there and _I_ will get the glass of water," Serge stopped her before exiting the room, mumbling something inaudible.

"Tell the pink elephants to pull up their britches!" she called out before wildly fluffing her pillow and resting her head on it. "Night, little elephants. Night, Serge," she whispered before sleep enveloped her.

* * *

Larry sat up and rubbed his face with his hands. How long had he been asleep? As he took his hands away from his face and his eyes focused, he looked out to see bright blue sky and white fluffy clouds. What a beautiful day for a ride!

_Wait; a ride!_ he thought as he looked down to see he was still in his bed and wearing his pajamas. "Oh my Lord! My bed-it's…_flying_!" he exclaimed, grabbing the sheets and looking terrified as he continued to smoothly levitate in the air.

"Wheeee!" a voice called out behind him. Larry forced himself to turn his head to see who the voice belonged to, although he already knew.

"Balki? Balki! What is _happening_? Beds are not supposed to _fly_!"

"Oh, Cousin, don't be such a fish stick in the mud," Balki replied as his bed caught up to Larry's. "This is fun!"

Larry glared at Balki. "Fun? This is _fun_? Balki, this is not fun; this is dangerous! We could be killed by a-by a seven-forty-seven jetliner or a wayward gaggle of geese! We have to get _down_-_NOW_!"

As if on cue, Larry's bed begin dropping at a fast rate of speed. Larry flopped forward onto his stomach, holding onto the sheets and blankets for dear life. "Oh God…oh God," he kept saying over and over, trying to ignore his fast heart rate and Balki's childlike laughter.

Minutes later, the bed landed on the ground-thankfully not too harshly-and Larry forced himself to look up. "Where…are we?"

"I don't know, Cousin, but look who's here! Bianca!" Balki cried, leaping off the bed and running to their friend.

"Bianca!" Larry gasped, doing the same. When he reached her, he hugged her tightly and kissed her as if his life depended on it.

"Larry!" she giggled. "What was that for? And where are we?"

As the three of them looked around, Larry had to admit it was beautiful. There were green meadows as far as the eye could see, with white picket fences and quaint blue, white and yellow houses all in a row a few yards from the fields. A large windmill stood in the center of the fields and two dogs frolicked around the windmill, barking and playfully yelping at one another. The blue sky and cotton candy clouds were still overhead and the sun shone down on them brightly. Larry had never seen anything more beautiful in his life and he instinctively grabbed Bianca's hand.

"Cousin, this looks beautiful! If only you had your camera; this view is a Kojak moment!" Balki exclaimed.

"It _does_ look amazing, doesn't it?" Larry repeated.

"Well, except for that," Bianca stated, pointing to their left.

Larry followed her gaze and finger until he saw a very black cloud in the distance. He could see flashes of lightning and the haze of pounding rain falling below it. It looked as if it were heading slowly in their direction, but Larry couldn't quite tell.

"Wwoww!" Balki cried out as seconds later, a gust of wind blew so hard, Bianca's copper curls were going every which direction. Even the dogs took notice, for they ran off, yelping as if they had been injured.

"Um, guys?" Bianca asked as calmly as she could. "I seriously think now would be a really good time to-"

"_Run_!" Larry shouted for her as the cloud suddenly appeared much closer than before. Still grabbing Bianca's hand, he grabbed Balki's arm with his other hand and the three of them jumped over the white fence and towards the row of houses. "Maybe one of them has a storm shelter!" he yelled over the howling wind.

"Look out!" Bianca screamed as the windmill began to wobble back and forth before falling forward, barely missing Balki by a few feet.

"Cousin, I can't feel the ground!" Balki hollered.

Larry looked over at him, about to say something sarcastic when he saw that sure enough, Balki was off the ground! "Balki!" he screamed, trying to pull him down, but the wind was too strong. "No! No!"

"Larry, you have to let go!" Bianca cried out.

Larry looked at her as if she'd grown two heads. "Are you crazy? He'll be sucked into the cloud from Hell!"

"Larry, you _have_ to! Just let go!"

"No! I _can't_ and I _won't_!"

"Cousin!" Balki cried, his feet up over his head as he was hanging on as tight as he could. "I can't get a grip!"

"Balki!" Larry screamed as his cousin lost his grip completely and was sucked up into the cloud. "_No_!"

Suddenly, the dark cloud disappeared and Bianca looked over at Larry. "Now it's just the two of us," she smiled.

Larry's jaw dropped as soon as the words came out of her mouth. As he looked at her face, however, her white teeth transformed into green sharp teeth with protruding fangs and her eyes turned from their perfect blue into evil slits with red flames. Her hair then changed into venomous snakes with three heads and Larry screamed with all of his might, trying desperately to run, but one of the three-headed snakes wrapped around his torso and picked him up. He closed his eyes, waiting for death to come….and it did.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"Calm down, Serge; deep breaths," Greg instructed over the phone as the flamboyant art dealer tried frantically to explain what had just happened.

"I cannot calm down; Miss Bianca ran out of here as if my penthouse were aflame, yelling something about giant snakes and that she didn't kill anyone. Greg, I am _terrified_ of snakes and serpent-like creatures and she said there were more than one!"

Greg tried a different approach. "Where are you now?"

"Where do you _think_ I am, the Grand Palace? I am standing on top of my counter in the kitchen, terrified of the snakes Miss Bianca saw before she shot off!"

"Where is the machine?"

"The _what_?"

Greg sighed. "Her special _car_! Where is her special _car_?"

"Oh, that," Serge replied. "She took off inside it and I don't see it now. Look, Greg, what are we going to do about these snakes? I cannot spend the rest of my time standing on counters. Are you going to call a snake charmer?"

Greg shook his head. "A snake charm-you mean an exterminator? Serge, I'm in Chicago and you are in Beverly Hills. I think _you_ should call."

"Listen, Greg," Serge growled. "You owe me. I did what you asked and put the sleeping pills inside Miss Bianca's espresso-with a leh-mon _twist_. My telephone directorial is in the other room and so is my laptop and cell phone!"

Greg sighed again. "Okay, okay. I'll find the number-wait; did you say _pills_? Pills with an 's', as in plural? I told you to only give her _one_!"

"Well, you gave me two pills and I thought what harm could it do? The girl was so on edge if you were to blow on her, she would've fallen into the great abyss. Did I know that the two pills would make her crazy? Well of _course_ I didn't and you know why? Because that would have been ridiculous!" Serge defended.

"Serge, if you gave her two sleeping pills, odds are the snake thing was just a bad dream. Look, she's not here but I think I know where she went. Just get down off the counter. I am ninety-nine percent sure there are no giant snakes in your penthouse. She woke up from a bad dream and panicked. That's all," Greg explained, trying really hard not to say what he was actually thinking. If Bianca didn't like Serge so much, Greg would have told the crazy-accented dude to stick his head in a paint mixer a long time ago. But Bianca _did_ like Serge and it seemed as if he reciprocated her feelings. So Greg had no choice but to ask for his help and play nice with him.

"Are you sure? You know where Miss Bianca is? I hope she wasn't too under the influence when she drove away, because that is a _very_ dangerous thing to do."

Greg grabbed a candy wrapper off the kitchen counter and began to rub it between his fingers, causing a crackling sound. "Serge, I'm sorry….we have a…connection…you back…find Bianca…," he said before hitting the End Call button.

_Well, I honestly don't like her time traveling under the influence, either, but I know where she went, so I feel a little better, _he thought to himself.

* * *

By the time the machine had appeared inside the apartment, Bianca thankfully had managed to catch her breath. She saw Larry sitting at the kitchen table with his back to her, eating cereal and drinking coffee. She knew it had just been a terrible dream, but she instantly felt better when she saw him for herself. "Larry?" she asked slowly as she exited the machine.

Larry turned around and blinked when he saw her. "Bianca? What a nice surprise!" He walked over to kiss her, but before he could, Balki ran out of his room as if he were on fire.

"Cousin, Cousin! Beware the-oh, hi, Bianca-beware the-BIANCA!" Balki gushed.

Larry walked over to Balki. "Balki, what is it? What's the matter?"

Balki grabbed his cousin's arm and tried to catch his breath. "Oh, Cousin; I just had the most horrible dream that you, me and Bianca were in this giant meadow with a fence, dogs and a-"

"Windmill," Bianca found herself whispering aloud, causing them both to look at her, wide-eyed.

"How did you know?" they both asked in unison before exchanging looks of their own.

"Because that's why I'm here. I dreamed it too. Balki got sucked into the twister and I-" Bianca stopped herself, visibly shuddering from the memory.

"Wwoww," Balki breathed. "I didn't know we were all watching the same show in our heads!"

"But how is that _possible_? Three people having the exact same _dream_?" Larry questioned, scratching his head.

Bianca sighed. "I'm not sure, but something tells me this has Serge, Greg and my grandfather written all over it. What I'm not sure of is why."

"Well, Greg was here earlier," Larry recollected. "He said he was checking up on us and we left him with the soup boiling."

"Yeah, and when we came back, he had made us two very nice cups of tea," Balki added.

Larry's eyes grew wide and he snapped his fingers. "That's _right_! I _knew_ that Greg had a twitchy eye for some reason! He drugged us!"

"And I spent the night at Serge's house," Bianca said, ignoring the jealous look from Larry, "who was very insistent that I drink his espresso with lemon. The little artsy troll drugged me, too! But why would they drug us with pills to make us dream the exact same thing?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but other than the fact it was a horrible dream, it was kind of nice sharing it with you both," Balki smiled.

Bianca looked at Larry as he shuddered. He wasn't the only one. That dream had been something else. She now looked at her shoulder-blade length copper hair and wondered if she should chop it off, lest it remind her, Balki and Larry of serpents. "Well, at least my hair isn't trying to kill you," she said aloud before she could stop herself.

Larry laughed nervously. "Yeah." He then shook his head as if to clear his mind. "The good thing is that it was only a nightmare and you're here now."

Bianca allowed Larry to kiss her, but she knew that he hadn't told Jennifer the truth yet. If just knowing it by Larry's body language wasn't enough, she could see it in Balki's disappointed gaze at him after the kiss. "I should go," she whispered sadly, her forehead touching Larry's.

"No, please; stay," Larry urged, but Bianca walked away with a tear in her eye. She almost wished she was asleep again. Even if Larry was in her dream, maybe she wouldn't feel her heart breaking in her subconscious mind.

* * *

"Cousin, Cousin, Cousin," Balki tsked. "Po po po po po. Why you not call Jennifer right now and tell her that you fell in love with someone else? Jennifer deserves to know the truth, even if it's gonna chew up and spit out her heart."

Larry followed Balki to the couch." Balki, that's _why_ I can't tell Jenn the truth. I don't want her to be so hurt and crushed. I mean, there's no telling how long it will take her to get _over_ me. I don't want her to die from heartbreak because Larry Appleton, the man of her dreams, left her for another woman. I mean, think of the guilt that will put on _me_, Balki!"

"Cousin, normally I would fall apart at the thought of Jennifer having a rack with guilt, but cut the babasticki! I don't want Jennifer to be heartbroken, either, but you don't want to tell her for another reason and that is because you are afraid she won't fall apart at the hemline. Cousin, Bianca deserves your heart but if you are not willing to give her yours with no yarn attached, then the two of you should not be kissing and whatever else you two like to do behind folded doors."

Larry gave Balki a double-take before standing up and going to the kitchen. "Balki, I don't want to talk about this any longer, okay? Can you just back off?"

"Because you know I speak the truth," Balki retorted before muttering in Myposian. While Balki wasn't sure if Larry would really choose Bianca or Jennifer, he knew one thing for sure: someone was going to wind up hurt. He just hoped it wouldn't be his Cousin, for waiting too long and to have both Bianca and Jennifer dump _him_. Things were so much simpler in dreams.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

He could feel her eyes boring into the back of his head, but Serge refused to turn around and look at her. Even after she had told both he and the man sitting across the table from him that she had a bone to pick with them. He would not turn around and look into those accusing eyes for fear he might fall apart and confess to everything.

"First off, I know about the pills," she continued.

_Damn,_ Serge thought. _She should work with Detective Foley._ He glanced at Greg, who stared off into space, a look that clearly stated he was as guilty as sin. Which he was.

Finally, Serge turned around, unable to take it anymore. "It was _his_ idea; he _made_ me do it!" he confessed, pointing at Greg.

"Oh yeah, Serge; I really held a gun to your head and made you do it," Greg spat.

"Don't be speaking of putting a gun up to my head. I had enough of that with Victor Maitland. I am so sorry, Miss Bianca; I had no idea the trauma that it would cause you and-"

"No, I wanted to thank you," Bianca interrupted. "Well, not about the sneaking around part, but the whole sleep thing. You're right. I wasn't getting enough sleep and I want to thank you for taking good care of me, Larry and Balki. I just didn't exactly like your methods."

"Wait; you're _okay_ with it?" Greg gaped.

"Were you not listening?" Bianca asked, wide-eyed. "In fact, can you get some more for me and the guys? Just so we can have them on-hand?"

"Well, you would have to ask your darling grandfather, since that is where Mr. Drug Dealer got them," Serge replied.

Bianca laughed. "I figured that much. So can you get some more, Greg? Please? Maybe not so much for me, but for Larry. He's having a hard time dealing with the whole 'gun' issue and I need to make sure he sleeps and doesn't have any nightmares."

"Uh, sure," Greg replied slowly, scratching his head. "Yeah, let me just go do that now."

As Greg stood up, so did Serge, but Bianca quickly placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Not so fast."

"What? What'd I do? I thought I was off the hook?"

Bianca laughed. "Not until you take me out for a chocolate milkshake. You owe me that much for adding a new twist to your espresso."

Serge smiled at her and kissed the back of her hand. "It would be my pleasure."

What a wonderful, forgiving woman she was!

* * *

As soon as Greg knocked on the door and Henry answered, he knew he was in trouble. "I was expecting you back a lot sooner, Greg," he said sternly.

"Really? I didn't get a call," Greg replied, his voice slightly higher as he walked in the house.

"Do you have any idea," Henry began, "what you gave my granddaughter and her friends?"

_Is this a trick question?_ Greg thought. "Uh, sleeping pills?"

"Wrong, Greg. You gave them pills that allow the three of them to be connected in their dreams!"

"What?" Greg wracked his brain and immediately face palmed himself when he remembered dropping the two bottles. "I accidentally grabbed the wrong pills. I'm sorry. But what harm could it do? So they sleep better and now can be with each other in dreams. I don't see a problem."

Henry sighed. "That's not the point, Greg. I trusted you with Bianca's safety and you botched it up. What if you had mixed up another medication, huh? I have pills in there that will make your body go numb, pills that will make you tell the truth, and even pills that will cause a woman to be infertile!"

"Wait; why would you need a pill to make a woman-you know what? Never mind. I came back because B asked me to get some more. If I bring back just plain sleeping pills, she'll know something's different. Please tell me you have more of the pills I accidentally switched."

"Here," Henry sighed again, shoving the bottle in his hands. "Next time, please be more careful."

Greg looked down, feeling like the teacher's pet getting sent to the principal's office. "Yes, sir. Bianca wanted me to ask you one other thing next time I saw you. She was invited to go to Jacob's will reading yesterday and she played hooky. Did she miss anything?"

Henry laughed. "Not a thing. All I got was a lousy 'Sorry I was a jackass' from him. Alek got most of it. Bianca didn't get a thing from him. It would have been an hour of her life she would have never gotten back."

Greg smiled, glad he was saved by the Jacob question. "Okay, well, I had better be going. I'll take a look at that D47 transmitter real soon, I promise."

"Okay, Greg. And remember to be more careful, huh?"

Greg nodded as he walked backwards and out the door, never happier to leave Henry Pierson's home and presence.

* * *

"Ohh," Larry muttered after he took a gulp of his antacid and sat on the sofa, head in his hands. He didn't think things could get worse after Bianca left and Balki lectured him, but they did. Without intending to, Balki had been watching TV when a John Wayne movie came on. Normally Larry loved John Wayne movies, but as soon as he saw the infamous actor pull his gun out of his holster and shoot the bad guy, Larry had to leave the room. For the rest of the day, images of Jacob holding the gun and firing it, killing both Quinn and Valeena plagued his mind as if they were on constant replay. He went for a walk, worked on his article for the paper, but nothing helped. Balki, who felt miserable for causing Larry's breakdown, had left to go mail a package at the post office to his mama. He longed for Bianca to come back and just hold him in her arms and tell him everything would be okay.

"Everything with Bianca _might_ be okay if I could just get up the courage to call Jennifer and tell her the truth," he scolded himself, shooting up from the sofa and going to the telephone. There on a notepad beside the phone was the number to where Jennifer and Mary Anne were living in Ontario. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the receiver and quickly dialed the number. One ring. Two rings. Three rings…

"Hello?" a familiar voice answered and Larry felt his heart sink down into his shoes.

"Hi, Mary Anne. It's Larry. Can I please talk to Jennifer?"

"Oh, hi, Larry? I guess you can, but she's not here right now. Can I take a message?"

Larry sighed. "Uh, no. No message."

"Alright," Mary Anne's bubbly voice replied. "Well, I can tell her you called."

"You know what? I'm sure she's really busy, so you don't even have to tell her I called."

"Oh, okay. So you want me to forget you called?" she asked.

Larry wrapped the phone cord around his finger. "Yeah, Just forget I called."

"Okay, I guess we better hang up now so I won't remember."

Larry raised his eyebrows in question. "O-kay. Bye, Mary-Anne."

As soon as he hung up the phone, he cursed out loud. The one time he had managed to find the courage and Jenn wasn't even there! He stood there a moment, placing his head on the bar, but the image of John Wayne and Jacob came back into his mind and he spun around to go lie down on the sofa.

Suddenly, he saw a small medicine bottle and a note on the coffee table. "Well, _that_ wasn't there before," he muttered, walking over and picking up the note. "Larry, saw you were busy but here are some more sleeping pills in case you or Balki are still having trouble sleeping. Bianca said she needed more, so I thought I'd give you guys a few. Later, Greg," he read before throwing the note back down on the table. "What, you think the only thing that will help me now are _pills_? Thanks but no thanks, Greg," he snorted.

_Bianca said she needed more, _his mind recalled from the note. He hated that she was having trouble sleeping, too.

"But there is no way that I am going to bow down and live my life around stupid _sleeping_ pills," he told himself as he opened the bottle and popped two of them in his mouth.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Bianca had never been more nervous in her life as she stood with Larry and Balki on the front porch of the large two-story house.

Before she had the chance to flee, however, the front door opened and an older woman with friendly eyes and brown and grey hair smiled at them. "Lawrence! Oh it's so good to see you!" she cried, hugging him.

"Nice to see you, too, Mom," Larry returned the hug.

"Aunt _Lois_!" Balki shouted, giving the woman a warm hug. "You look amazing!"

"Well, thank you Balki. And who is this young woman here, Lawrence?"

Larry's chest practically swelled with pride and Bianca felt herself blush. "Mom, this is Bianca Pierson; my girlfriend."

"Bianca Pierson," a male voice called from inside the house. "Well, don't just keep her outside, Lawrence; let her in."

"Oh, yes, Dad," Larry replied, quickly grabbing Bianca's hand and leading her into the house. Bianca nearly whistled aloud when she saw it. The living room looked almost exactly like something straight from a Donna Reed-esque sitcom. Everything was neat and tidy and seriously lacked of technology. The massively huge television was from the early nineteen seventies and the black telephone on the wall was still a rotary dial. "Dad, I'd like you to meet Bianca. Bianca? This is my dad, Walter Appleton," Larry continued, snapping her back to reality.

"Lawrence, I think she knows who I am," the tall, grey-headed man said in a no-nonsense tone.

"Bianca, you want something to drink, hon? We have tea, water, and fresh-squeezed lemonade," Lois asked as Bianca, Larry, Balki and Walter took a seat in the living room.

"Lemonade sounds fine, thank you," Bianca replied, wishing the butterflies in her stomach would calm down.

"So, Bianca. Lawrence here tells me you're an inventor," Walter began. "Is this true?"

"Y-yes sir. My grandfather was an inventor and I guess I was also born with the knack."

"So, you're probably going to be the bread-winner if you and my son were to get married, then," Walter said as if he were telling her it was probably going to rain later.

Larry's eyes grew wide. "Dad!"

Walter cleared his throat. "Well, I'm sorry, son, but you don't exactly make enough at that paper you work for to really provide for a family, but with her inventions out on the market, I'm sure she-"

"I don't sell my inventions, sir," Bianca interrupted. "I've actually only sold one invention but the rest are for personal or creative purposes. My source of income comes from my web design business."

Walter looked over his glasses at her distastefully. "What good is inventing things if you have no plans to sell them to the highest bidder?"

Lois handed her the lemonade and sat down next to her husband, but Bianca was beginning to wish she would choke on the lemonade and pass out. "Well, I don't sell because of the point you just made, sir. If I sold to the highest bidder, then how do I know if my inventions were placed into the right or wrong hands? I prefer just to keep them in a secure place with me and stick to my web design business for the money."

"I see," Walter said, obvious disapproval in his voice. "Lawrence, what happened to-what was her name-Jennifer? Now _she_ had a steady income being a flight attendant."

"Dad, I broke up with her. I met Bianca and we fell in love. Now would you please stop being so difficult? Mom, will you please tell Dad to lighten up?"

"Oh, honey; your dad means well," Lois said sweetly. "But Walter, back off a little. She's our son's girlfriend, not someone who we need to interrogate."

Walter sighed. "Perhaps. So, Balki, are you still seeing Mary-Anne?"

Balki beamed with pride. "Well of course I am, don't be ridiculous. She's my little lamb kabob."

Bianca frowned at Larry, knowing where this part of the conversation was headed. It was becoming more clear to her that Larry's dad did not approve of his new girlfriend.

"Lawrence, you don't find that a tad uncomfortable that Balki is dating your ex-girlfriend's best friend? I mean, I can only imagine the awkwardness in those situations," Walter chuckled.

"Well both of them are in _Canada_ right now, so it doesn't matter," Larry replied through gritted teeth.

Bianca stood up abruptly, just about to tell Mr. Walter Appleton exactly what she thought, when she accidentally bumped Larry's bag. "Oops," she said as a bottle of pills fell out and rolled across the floor.

Lois stood up and picked up the bottle. "Why, Larry; this prescription is in your _name_! Are you ill?"

Bianca watched as Larry turned a bright shade of red and reached to take the pills from her. Unfortunately, Walter grabbed them first, placing his glasses down to the end of his nose to read the label.

"Oh no, Aunt Lois; Cousin Larry's not ill. He's just taking those when he feels he is losing his mind to bad thoughts," Balki explained.

Larry glared at him. "You're not _helping_, Balki," he seethed.

"I've heard of this medication before, Lawrence, and Balki has a point. Are you having mental health issues?" Walter asked.

"No, your son is not having mental health issues. They help him sleep because he witnessed a tragic event and he has flashbacks. That's all, okay?" Bianca defended her boyfriend, snatching the pills out of Walter's hand and putting them back in the bag.

"Oh, honey. What sort of tragic event did you see?" Lois asked, concern on her face.

"I-I saw a guy shoot and kill two other people in front of us, Mom. This guy named Quinn was going to kill me, Bianca, Balki and several others when Bianca's cousin shot Quinn and killed both him and a girl he was holding at gunpoint."

"Oh, honey, that's awful! I'm just glad you are okay," Lois walked over and brushed Larry's hair back and hugged him. Bianca was glad at least his _mother_ had some sense about her.

"But taking medicine to try and mask the pain is just…well, it shows _weakness_. And if Appletons are anything, being weak or showing _signs_ of weakness is not one of them," Lois continued, causing Bianca's jaw to drop.

"Lawrence, I am ashamed and embarrassed. This family doesn't handle life with pills! We suck it up and take it like a man; you know why? Because we are Appletons!"

Walter affirmed.

Larry's face turned ashen. "But Dad; you gotta understand; I saw two people _die_! And I didn't have a doctor prescribe them for me! Bianca's grandfather gave them to me just for a little while! Mom, please don't think I'm less of a son because I'm having trouble coping."

"Lawrence, if you can't handle your problems without medications, then I'm afraid we have no choice other than to shun you," Lois told him stiffly.

"And getting your girlfriend's family to be your dealer is even more shameful. Goodbye, Lawrence. Please don't darken our doorstep again," Walter stood up, pointing to the door.

"Uncle Walter, am I shinned too?" Balki asked.

"Balki, you and Mary Anne are welcome back anytime," Walter smiled, clapping him on the back.

"But Mom; Dad-," Larry begged. "_Please_-"

"We are no longer your mom and dad. Goodbye, Lawrence," Lois interrupted him before she slammed the door in Bianca and Larry's face.

Bianca turned to Larry. "I can't believe your parents _did_ that to you! That was single-handedly the most terrible thing I've seen!"

Larry just stared at her, tears forming in his eyes. "If only you hadn't knocked over my bag, B. If only they hadn't seen…"

* * *

Balki was eating his Raisin Puffs cereal when he saw the machine appear. He stood up and smiled, but his smile faded as soon as Bianca exited, still in her pajamas and sobbing loudly.

"Oh, Bianca; what's wrong? Sit down and tell Balki all your troubles," he comforted, leading her to the kitchen table.

"He'll never forgive me! I ruined his life! He hates me and I don't know what to do!" she wailed, her head in her hands.

Balki was rubbing her back gently as Larry came out of his room, looking anything but bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost. Balki opened his mouth, but Larry spoke first.

"Bianca?" Larry asked, rubbing his eyes.

Within seconds, Bianca shot up from the table and ran to him, still sobbing. "Larry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to spill your bag! I didn't know your parents would disown you!"

Balki watched as Larry took her in his arms and shushed her, but Balki turned around again before his eyes could meet his cousin's. Did Bianca dream the same thing as Balki did _again_? Balki was having a beautiful dream about Mypos but it quickly changed to visiting Larry's parents and things got ugly. In the dream, Larry's parents disowned their flesh and blood because of some medicine he was on. It was terrible, but Balki knew it had only been a dream.

"Bianca, it's okay. I don't blame you for anything. It was a dream. It was all just a bad dream. My parents don't even _know_ about you," Larry told her.

Balki winced as Bianca made a shrill cry and bolted for the time machine, leaving before Larry could finish uttering "What did I _say_?"

"Cousin, I think she just wanted to know that it was all a dream and your parents didn't shuck you for taking the medicine. She's having an after-dream nervous breakdance."

Larry looked at him, dumb-founded. "She told you about the dream?"

Balki shook his head. "No, Cousin. I had the dream, too."

Larry reached for his bottle of antacid and took a long gulp. "Why do we keep having the same dreams, Balki? And why are none of them _good_?"

"Your vest is as good as mine, Cousin," Balki said before rinsing his bowl and spoon in the sink. "Maybe we need to change the channel. I don't think I like watching the same programs as you and Bianca every night."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"…and then he said 'my parents don't even _know_ about you'!"

Greg listened as Bianca sobbed loudly as they sat on his red leather sofa. Gently, he placed his hand on her shoulder, but that only triggered louder sobs. "There, there," he shushed. "It was only a dream. Well, except for that last part."

Louder sobs.

Greg wanted to kick himself. What could he possibly say to an inconsolable woman having nightmares about her so-called boyfriend's parents? At least they're not your in-laws? Just imagine how Larry's _other_ girlfriend felt meeting them for the first time? At least you slept well? Not one thought in Greg's mind sounded the least bit soothing. But then again, Greg wasn't equipped to handle emotional women. He was equipped to handle gidgets and gadgets, not estrogen-powered females. For once, he wished Serge was there. Maybe _he_ could do better, considering he was also somewhat estrogen-laced at times. And where was Bianca's doting grandfather? What happened to his supposed "frequent visits"?

Finally, Greg shot up, an idea coming to him that he knew would either work or get him slapped. "Look, so you had a bad dream. And Larry didn't exactly make it better. But you love him, right?"

Bianca looked up, her face red and tear-stained. "Yeah."

"So are you going to let this stupid dream walk all over you and ruin your day?"

"I guess not," Bianca sniffed.

"Of _course_ not! Because that's all it was; some silly dream. Your subconscious is trying to fill your mind with doubts. You can't let it win, Bianca! You have to stand up to your subconscious and say 'I'm not afraid'!" Greg cried out, shocked by his own booming voice.

Suddenly, Bianca stood up. "You're right, Greg! It was just a dream and Larry's parents-well, his mom-isn't anything like she was in the dream! And Larry's not addicted to some drug that helps ease his mind from the bad thoughts. He took one, maybe two sleeping pills! Thanks, Greg!" she exclaimed, hugging him before bounding off happily.

As soon as she was gone, Greg collapsed on the couch. "I cannot believe my line of BS worked. Or it could be this _exhausting_!"

* * *

Balki attempted to hum a tune as he sorted the mail in the basement of the Chicago Chronicle building, but he was too exhausted to concentrate.

"Baby," Harriet Winslow, the building's elevator operator began, walking towards him. "I know you've had a hard day, but this isn't my mail. This is for Harry Waslow in maintenance. And this letter is addressed to Heidi _Wesley_ in distributing. You keep messing up like this and Gorpley is going to have a field day with you."

Balki looked at her hopefully. "Will he ask me to run track or throw the Frisbee with him?"

"No, baby," she corrected. "I don't mean that type of field day. He's gonna happily point out every mistake you've made. And baby; you've made a lot today."

Balki sighed. "I'm sorry. I mean, if it makes Mr. Gorpley happy to point out my mistakes, I'll let him, but I don't mean to. I have been sleeping well but Cousin Larry and I keep having bad dreams that wake us up and make us sad."

"You boys been watching scary movies again?" Harriet asked.

"No, Cousin learned his lesson after watching all those horrible movies on Halloween, but the dreams involve a friend of ours and she is having the bad dreams, too."

"Oh, Balki, I'm sorry. I'll tell you what; I'll find a way to get Gorpley out of his office, and I'll see if I can help you sort the rest of the mail."

"Oh, Harriet, you would do that for Balki?" he asked happily.

"Of _course_ I would, baby; don't be ridiculous," she winked before banging on Mr. Gorpley's door. Balki tried to hear what Harriet said to him, but he couldn't make out any other words except 'ex-wife' and 'alimony' before Mr. Gorpley bolted out of the office.

Balki smiled gratefully at Harriet. Maybe when he got home, he could ask Larry if he could take one of his sleeping pills. Maybe that would help him sleep more and dream less.

* * *

Larry had never felt more relieved yet pained in his life. Yes, his method had been a little callous if not somewhat cruel, but it wasn't his fault. How many times had he tried to do it the right way only to be deterred? He also was choosing to ignore the pain in his chest from what he had done. It needed to be done, but it still didn't mean he didn't feel sad and a little reflective about the situation as he drove Balki home from work.

"Cousin, I cannot believe you finally did it. Although I wish you hadn't left a message doing it on the answering machine," Balki told him.

"Balki, I'm sick and tired of waiting for Jennifer to be available so I can tell her live and over the phone. I needed to stop stringing her and Bianca along. I'll miss Jenn because I truly did love her-"

"No, you were infuriated with her," Balki interrupted.

"That's _infatuated_ and that's a bit harsh," Larry corrected. "A part of me will always love Jennifer, but after we were imprisoned in the castle by Bianca's cousin and I thought he was torturing her, something happened. I was completely blind-sided by my love for _her_. That letter from her aunt and what she did to save the same man who tried to hurt her just sealed the deal."

"I thought you loved her when you had the dream where you two played lip tag in the rain," Balki teased.

Larry glared at Balki. "I'm glad you're having fun and making jokes. Jennifer is going to be devastated. I actually broke up with the first woman who told me she loved me without being paid to or drunk."

"Cousin, if you're making reservations about breaking up with Jennifer, then maybe you should reconsider."

"Balki, I'm not _having_ reservations. I _want_ to be with Bianca."

"Well, I know one thing: since you have had feelings for Bianca, you haven't tried to lie or scheme or come up with some plan to try and impress her. I'm hoping it's because you finally learned to cut the babasticki and just be yourself," Balki said.

Larry glared at Balki again, but he knew his cousin was right. Jennifer was so out of his league that it terrified him everyday that she would leave him for some male underwear model/heir to the throne. Bianca was much more of a free spirit and while he was still terrified she might find someone better, he knew she wasn't looking for a model or heir. She just wanted someone as quirky and mischievous as she. He smiled as he unlocked the door to their apartment, thinking about all the trouble they could get into-and out of-together.

"Cousin, we have a message," Balki said, pointing to the blinking light on the answering machine. "I bet it's Jennifer crying her eyes out. I can't listen."

"Balki, just push play," Larry groaned, his heart in his throat.

"Okay, Cousin," he sniffed, pressing the button.

"Hey, I'm calling you back. I don't know who this Jennifer is that you claim to love, but you're a pretty crappy boyfriend for breaking up with her on an answering machine. Anyway, you dialed the wrong number. You might check the number again, eh?" an unknown male voice said.

Balki looked at Larry. "Well, iron my shirt and call me steamy, Cousin; you didn't even call Jennifer!"

The only response Larry could muster was a strangled cry as he placed his head in his hands.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"Mmm, these candies are delicious, Miss Bianca; where did you say they were from?"

Bianca looked at Serge and smiled. "Right here in Chicago, nineteen eighty-seven."

She laughed aloud as Serge spat them out immediately and gagged. "No, Serge. I went to nineteen eighty-seven, got them and brought them right back to today," she giggled.

"Oh, yes; I knew that," he retorted, continuing to eat the dark chocolate truffles. "So, why did you bring me here in your special car? Not that I'm _complaining_, but just asking."

"Because," she told him, opening a soda from the refrigerator, "Greg is helping my grandfather with something and I need you to help keep my mind off how Larry Appleton is stringing me along. He says he's going to tell Jennifer, but does he? Hell, no. Normally I would break up with him and not look back, but…I can't do that."

"Well, personally, I think he's making a big mistake in not telling this Jennifer that you are the Apple to his Appleton," he told her before nibbling on a truffle thoughtfully. "And I think he don't deserve either of you. He deserves to be alone with his thoughts and bad taste in sweaters."

Bianca giggled again. "I like his sweaters. But maybe it's me. Maybe _I'm_ bad for Larry. I mean, after all, all of the dreams so far have been shedding me in the most horrible light. I ruined his life, I caused his parents to disown him, my hair ate him-"

"Forgive me," Serge interrupted, nearly choking. "Did you just say your hair ate him?"

"Snake dream," Bianca reminded before spraying a can of cheese in her mouth.

"Ugh," Serge shuddered.

"Are you 'ughing' the snake dream or my cheese fetish?"

"Both," Serge confessed, raising his eyebrow at her. "Only two things should come out of a spray can: paint and hair spray."

"Where's your sense of adventure?" she teased.

"Beverly Hills, two thousand thirteen," he quipped, watching her carefully. On the outside, Bianca may have seemed fine and happy, but he could tell that on the inside, a completely different story was being told. She was feeling completely and absolutely miserable and Serge knew that there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

* * *

Greg wiped his brow with his sleeve and exhaled. He and Henry had been working on at least five inventions: the shrink ray, the edible computer chip, the selective memory eraser, the invisible detector and the coffee machine. And the last one had been the most difficult. Thankfully, now it was lunchtime, followed by quitting time.

"How come you don't let Bianca help you with these?" Greg asked.

Henry took a bite of his salad and grimaced. "B's been through a lot. I told her when things calm down, she will be welcome here to help us anytime."

"She's a little hurt that you haven't been by to see her much."

"I don't mean to, but I didn't want to crowd her, you know? She's still dealing with what happened. We _all_ are."

Greg nodded as he added more ranch dressing to his salad. "Yeah. I still think of Valeena at times. Her life was cut short so quickly."

"Yes, it was. She was a good friend of the family. Funny, too," Henry replied.

Greg looked over at the coffee table and noticed something he hadn't seen before. "What's the package?" he asked, nodding towards the brown envelope.

Henry glanced at it and waved it off. "It's nothing. Just some junk mail I need to throw away."

Greg got up. "I'll chunk it,"

"No, leave it alone!" Henry snapped. "Sit back down and eat. I'll do it."

Greg slowly sat back down. "O-kay; sorry."

"I'm sorry, son. I don't mean to be snippy but it's been a long day and this old man is tired," Henry apologized. "How is B?"

"She seems okay, but she's really having a hard time dealing with Larry's indecision of whom he wants to be with. He claims it's her, but his actions are proving otherwise. Plus, the sleeping pills are helping, but the dreams are getting to be an issue. Every dream they've shared, Bianca ends up being the one hurting Larry and Balki. She's wracked with guilt over nightmares she can't control. Maybe I should just give them regular sleeping pills."

"I wouldn't do that. They've been taking the dream sharing pills so long now, switching them might cause adverse side effects. It's complicated."

Greg laughed. "In your life, what _isn't_ complicated? I bet you have some very technological skeletons in your closet from your youth."

Henry stopped mid-bite, raising an eyebrow. "You think so, huh? Well, maybe, but doesn't everyone have skeletons-technologically advanced or otherwise?"

* * *

"A-one, a-two, a-three, a-four," Balki counted as he moved his piece across the board. "Oh, I helped mow the lawn so I get to go all the way up here."

Larry sighed. "Balki, why are we playing a childish game like Snakes and Ladders? This is silly."

"Because, Cousin," Balki countered, "you don't like to play Scrabble with me since I play Myposian words. And I don't want to play Monopoly with _you_, because you always want to be the banker and you cheat Balki. You said you wanted to get your mind off all the babasticki in your life, no? So, we play Snakes and Ladders!"

"Fine," Larry mumbled, spinning the wheel. "Six. One, two, three, four, five, six."

"Oh, Cousin, you splashed in a mud puddle so you have to go down the slide!" Balki cried.

Larry shot up from the table. "Balki, I don't want to play some stupid kid's game. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go to bed early."

Balki grabbed his arm, suddenly nervous. "Cousin, you didn't take any more of those sleeping pills, did you? Every time you or I take one, we have the same dreams. I don't want to have the same dreams as you. They make me want to have a nervous breakdance and Bianca is always the one getting the short end of the stick in the mud. I don't like them."

Larry shrugged his arm away from Balki's grasp. "You think I _do_? I feel _terrible_ and poor Bianca thinks that I somehow blame her for everything, but I _don't_ . It couldn't be further from the truth. The truth is, _I_ am to blame for not being able to tell Jennifer yet. And, Balki, you know I've tried. She either isn't there, she has a bad case of laryngitis or I dial the wrong number."

Balki couldn't deny that it seemed as if something was keeping Larry from being able to tell Jennifer the truth. At first, he thought it was just Larry stringing them both along, but now he knew otherwise. It was killing his cousin not to be with Bianca, but in between her not wanting to commit to Larry without telling Jenn and these dreams, Balki knew it was hurting _Bianca_ more.

"Goodnight, Balki," Larry said miserably before going into his bedroom and closing the door.

"Night, Cousin," he whispered, beginning to pack up the game. If only there was some way Larry could tell Jennifer in _person-_

Suddenly, Balki looked up, a smile on his face as he realized exactly how that could happen. He just needed to talk to Bianca first. "Oh, Balki; you genius of love, you," he told himself joyfully. He couldn't wait to see the surprised look on Larry's face in the morning when Balki told him the answer to his problems!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"Balki, that's _brilliant_!" Larry cried. "I can fly to Canada and talk to Jennifer face to face!"

"Aw, go on with you," Balki replied bashfully.

"And you said the jet was going to be waiting for us in front of the apartment?"

"Well of course it will, don't be ridiculous. We just got to wait for the pilot. The guy who flew the jet in lives here and can't go to Canada, so he is sending another pilot to do the job!" Balki explained excitedly.

Larry smiled. "This is great. Finally I can be honest with Jennifer and Bianca and I can start our lives together."

As the two of them walked out of the apartment, Larry whistled at the size of the jet. He couldn't believe it was able to land perfectly in front of the apartments without flooding into the street. Larry jumped as the door of the jet opened and he and Balki walked up the steps and into the aircraft. "Oh my Lord!" Larry gasped.

Balki grabbed Larry's arm. "Isn't this amazing? We get this whole space to ourselves!" Balki instantly grabbed the small microphone that the flight attendants used. "Attention K-Mart shoppers; do we have a blue light special for you!" he announced in a strangely clear American accent.

Larry grabbed the small mic from Balki and glared at him. "Will you stop goofing off and sit down?"

"Cousin, I can't; I forgot what my seat number is!" Balki gasped.

"Balki," Larry seethed. "It doesn't _matter_ what your seat number is because we're the only two people _aboard_!"

"Oh, yeah," Balki remembered, sitting down on the front row beside Larry.

Suddenly, a familiar figure stepped onboard the jet, dressed in full pilot attire.

"Bianca?" Larry and Balki gaped in unison.

"You were expecting someone else?" she winked before taking a seat in the cockpit. "Please fasten your seat belts. Uh, Larry? Could you come up here to the front with me?"

Larry shrugged and made his way into the co-pilot seat, smiling. Even in a boring navy pilot uniform and hat, she looked beautiful. "You know where we're going, right?" he asked, grabbing her hand.

Bianca smiled back at him. "You're going to tell Jennifer that it's me you want to be with," she replied, tears in her eyes.

Larry nodded as she started up the jet and began take-off. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. This was fantastic. Nothing could go wrong. "Bianca, I didn't know you could fly," he said.

"Yeah, Larry; about that. I, uh, I can't."

Larry continued to smile with his eyes closed for a few seconds before it registered what she had said. Shooting straight up in his seat, he looked at her, eyes wide. "What do you mean you _can't_?"

"I can't fly! I don't know how!" she squealed. Instantly, Larry felt déjà vu from when she confessed in his dream she couldn't drive.

"We are how many feet in the air and now you're going to admit you don't know how to _fly_?"

Bianca began to cry. "I know, I know; I'm sorry. I just wanted you to get to Canada so we could be together. So when the pilot asked me if I could take you, I couldn't say no."

"Well, guess what? We are going to be together all right. Especially when we crash and die! How could you wait until now and then spring that on me?"

Bianca was sobbing now. "Don't yell at me!"

Larry was in full panic/anger mode. "Don't yell at you? Don't _yell_ at you? You're only going to kill us all and I'm not supposed to _yell_ at you?"

Suddenly, the plane started making a loud beeping noise and Larry grabbed the microphone for the radio. "Mayday, mayday; I repeat mayday! We're on a plane with a woman who is an imposter and I am too young to die!"

"Cousin, I don't feel so good," Balki said wearily as he made his way into the cockpit.

"That's because we're losing cabin pressure and _Bianca_ doesn't know how to fly!" Larry shouted before daring himself to look out of the front of the plane. Seeing that they were making a definite nosedive into the ocean, Larry did the only rational thing he knew how to do: he covered his face with his hands and screamed.

* * *

"Grandfather?"

As Bianca unlocked the door, she couldn't help but wonder how such an intelligent inventor still thought keeping his spare key under the welcome mat was a good idea. Although she missed her grandfather like crazy, she had to admit that she was relieved he wasn't at home. She really didn't feel like explaining to him why she had come. She didn't feel like explaining it to _anyone_, for that matter. This was something she needed to do alone. Quickly, she pressed the code on the keypad for the high-tech security system's laser beams. Once she saw the green light on the keypad alert her it was safe, she pressed on. "Now, where would it be? In his bedroom or in the closet?" she asked aloud, feeling like a thief as she carefully and cautiously roamed from room to room, looking for the thing she needed.

Suddenly, she saw it lying on a chair in the corner of his den. She picked it up gingerly, feeling a bead of sweat form on her brow. "No, don't you dare wimp out. You _have_ to do this," she scolded herself, stuffing it inside a duffel bag she brought with her.

"But I guess I can leave Grandfather a note saying I was here to say 'hi'," she muttered, going back toward the kitchen through the living room. She jumped, however, when she heard a loud thump coming from somewhere inside the house. As she jumped, her right arm hit her grandfather's high bookcase and a small brown mailer fell from the top shelf.

"What's this?" she asked, bending down to pick it up. Her eyes grew wide when she noticed the package was addressed to her specifically! Why was her grandfather keeping something in a mailer with _her_ name? Not only that, but it had been opened. Sitting down on the sofa, she reached inside and pulled out a DVD simply marked "The Truth: Watch Alone".

"O-kay," she said slowly, sticking it and the mailer in her duffel bag, her curiosity piqued. She was sure it was nothing, but now she wanted to watch to see what the DVD was about. After all, it had _her_ name on it.

Standing up, she took a deep breath and turned the security system back on before leaving. "I'll call him later and tell him I stopped by. And that he apparently has mice," she murmured before a wave of sadness and dread washed over her.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

"What are you doing?"

Greg jumped and spun around to face Bianca, feeling guiltier than he needed to. "I had sent the time machine back to Larry and Balki's apartment. Balki begged me to let him use it to show Larry something on Mypos, I think. So I told them they could use it, but only for an hour. Now I'm back with the machine."

He waited for Bianca to ask him if he needed to be put on crazy meds, but instead she just sighed heavily and nodded. Greg had noticed that Bianca was becoming even more depressed in the past twenty-four hours. She hid it well at first, but now, she wasn't even trying to mask her inner pain.

"Bianca, why don't you get something to eat?" Greg suggested with a smile.

"I'm not hungry," she muttered before turning around and walking away.

As soon as she was gone, Greg quickly entered her other time machine and traveled to the only other person who night know what to do.

"Oh, hello. To what do I owe _this_ pleasure?" Serge drawled as Greg walked up to the front desk at his art gallery.

"It's Bianca. Why else do you think I would be coming here?" Greg quipped, giving him his best 'duh' face.

"Is she okay? She's not done anything crazy, has she?" Serge queried, immediately entering concerned mode. "You know, when I left, she seemed very upset."

"She's extraordinarily upset. Increasingly so. It's not just a one-man job to help her anymore. I need back-up. Any chance you can claim to go on sabbatical from this place for awhile and help me help Bianca?" Greg spouted, not believing his ears as he said the next words aloud. "I need you."

"Normally, I would say 'harrumph' to your idea, but since it's for Miss Bianca, I can only say 'hello sabbatical' and 'goodbye beloved art galleria'," Serge replied, scribbling a note and tearing it off the pad. "Let's go!"

Greg watched as he taped the note to the door, posted the "Closed" sign and entered Bianca's time machine.

"Oh, we have to stop by my penthouse first; I need to pack for my Miss Bianca sabbatical," Serge added.

"Oh, brother," Greg mumbled. Already he was beginning to wish he had never used the term 'sabbatical'. A 'short stay' would have worked much better.

* * *

Balki watched as Larry tipped the Maalox bottle to his lips and gulped it as if it were water.

"Balki, when is Bianca coming back? She hasn't been here in days and I need to see her," Larry said, desperation and anxiety in his voice. "We had the machine and Greg said she wasn't feeling well, but he was _lying_; I could _feel_ it!"

"Cousin, it _is_ cold and flu season, even in the future. Maybe she caught a _germ_," he replied, saying the last word slowly, knowing how freaked out Larry was about the tiny creatures. "She will come and when she does, we will sit down and have a long talk. Everything will be okay, Cousin. Balki can see the light at the end of the turtle."

"That's tunnel; light at the end of the _tunnel_, Balki," Larry growled through gritted teeth. "And how can you be so sure? Balki, all these dreams-no scratch that-nightmares we have been having are driving me crazy. If Bianca is having them too, she must think I _hate_ her! No wonder she hasn't come back; _I_ wouldn't come back!"

Balki grabbed the Maalox out of Larry's hands just as he was about to take another swig. "Oh, po po. If there's one thing I know about Bianca, it's that she isn't scared of no bad dreams. She survived her aunt making her life miserable, she invents machines that blow my mind, she was kidnapped by her crazy half-cousin and his hunchbacks Quinn and Alek, watched her friend get shot and she is still okay. Bianca Pierson is one tough cookie cutter. She not going to let silly dreams keep her from what she loves, which is you. You are the Moolinki to her Loaf. The slop to her trough. The bibbi to her bobka…"

"Okay, Okay! I got it! But I still need to see her and I need to tell her face-to-face that…it's over."

* * *

"Guess who's going to be _staying_ here for a few days while I'm on sabbatical?" Serge asked giddily as he jumped into the living room to surprise Bianca.

Bianca just looked up at him from her position on the sofa. "You're on sabbatical because of me," she told him, her voice sounding like that of a robot.

Serge recoiled but quickly regained his composure. "Don't be stupid; I'm not on sabbatical because of _you_; I'm two-tenths Roman Catholic and one-eighth Buddhist. It's my spiritual right! So, how are you?" he asked, bouncing down on the sofa beside her.

"Considering the man I love won't tell his girlfriend the truth because these dreams we're having makes him hate me, I'm peachy," she retorted. "Look, can you just leave me alone for a while? I really don't feel like talking about this or anything else right now."

"Ouch! You really know how to twist a knife in my heart, you know it?" He started to get up, but saw she was looking at a small package on the coffee table with her name written on it. "What's that?"

"I found it at Grandfather's. Why he had a package hidden in _his_ house with _my_ name, I don't know. There's a DVD inside."

Now Serge was curious. "What movie is it? Maybe it's old embarrassing home movies. I could make up some popped corn and we could watch it together."

Bianca shook her head. "I don't know that I want to watch it. The DVD says, 'The Truth: Watch Alone'. Sounds a little hokey and cryptic to me."

Serge gulped. Maybe Bianca was _right_. Maybe it was best that she _didn't_ watch the DVD. Which only meant one thing: he needed to watch it _for_ her. After all, that's what friends on sabbatical were for, right?

* * *

Larry knew he needed to go to sleep, but he was afraid to for fear of what he might dream. "I know what will help: if I watch a movie. One preferably without guns or violence." While Larry might not have liked Greg completely, he had been pleased when Greg gave them a VCR last week as a gift. As he sat on the couch, he leaned down and opened one of the cabinets in the coffee table and looked at the various VHS tapes, also provided by Greg. "No, no, no, no," he repeated, scanning the titles one-by-one. "Well, there's nothing here," he sighed, standing up and realizing his fate. Whether he wanted to or not, he had to go to sleep, which meant probably dreaming some other terrible dream.

"Hey, Cousin," Balki said as they met in the small hallway between their bedrooms and bathroom. "Going to bed?"

"I guess, but the cable is out, so if you're going to watch TV, you'll have to watch a VHS tape. Goodnight, Balki," he answered sadly.

"Goodnight, Cousin," Balki replied.

As soon as Larry was gone, Balki walked over to the mail that lay on the bar and found the package addressed to both he and Larry. Balki had wanted to tell Larry that they had gotten a new movie in the mail, but he knew his cousin had other things on his mind. Taking the movie out of the package, he smiled at the title: "Bianca's Truth".

"A movie with another girl named Bianca!" he exclaimed excitedly before jumping over the sofa and putting the movie in the VCR. "I know _this_ movie is gonna be good!"

Suddenly, a familiar face appeared on the screen, but it wasn't a famous actor or actress. This was someone Balki knew personally, and he was sitting in a chair inside a room filled with books. And he was talking about Bianca _Pierson_!

Balki listened carefully to what the man was saying, but it didn't make very much sense to him. The only thing that _did_ make sense was the man on the video was saying bad things that couldn't be true. "Cousin!" he yelled, but Larry didn't answer. "He must be asleep already. I guess I can tell him about this tomorrow and he can make heads or snails about it."

And with that, Balki ejected the tape, put it back in the case and got ready to go to bed, leaving it on the coffee table.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Bianca limped as fast as she could behind Larry, watching in horror as the scene played out in front of them.

"Blood pressure and heart rate are dropping….we need to get him stabilized; he's lost a lot of blood….possible lung puncture and internal bleeding…I need room here, people!"

Bianca looked down to see that she, too, was bleeding from her shoulder and her leg, but she didn't care about her injuries. She only cared about the two people she loved dearly in front of her. She gingerly placed her hand on Larry's shoulder, tears pouring down both of their faces as they watched four or five doctors and nurses hover over the man in the bed. The kindest, most loving and selfless man she'd ever known, Balki Bartokomous was fighting for his life in front of them and there wasn't a damn thing they could do.

"Wait, where are you _taking_ him?" Larry asked as they raced down the hall with him.

"To be prepped for surgery. He has internal bleeding and there is some swelling on the brain. I'm sorry, but you have to wait here," one of the doctors said before running to catch up.

Bianca sat down in the seat nearest to her and sobbed. Why Balki? Why was it always the good guys who had to struggle the most?

Larry ran his hands through his hair and pulled. "How can this be happening? My cousin is in there, about to have life-altering surgery and I have to wait out _here_?"

"I know it's unfair, but Balki is strong. He'll pull through. He's Myposian and they are known fighters, right?" Bianca heard herself say, but she barely recognized her voice.

Larry said nothing, but looked down the long hallway every thirty seconds or so.

Bianca looked up at Larry's forehead. "Larry, you're bleeding," she said, jumping up to a nearby room to grab some peroxide, cotton and a bandage.

Larry shooed her away as she tried to nurse him. "I don't _want_ you to take care of me; I want Balki to be alright!" he barked.

"I want that, too," she said rather defensively. "I hate sitting and waiting, but we can't do anything _else_!"

Finally, Larry sat down beside her. "I can still see Balki hitting that rock and going underwater. I can hear me screaming for him and desperately searching. I can't even count how many times I went back under…"

"Stop it. Don't torture yourself like this. You saved his life after our plane went down. You risked yours to save him. Balki would be so thankful."

"I saved his _life_?" Larry scoffed, looking at her, tears running down his cheeks. "Did you not just hear the doctor? He has swelling on his brain, a punctured lung, internal bleeding and he's going for surgery that could _kill_ him! What kind of a life do you call _that_?"

"A pretty darned good one considering he is still fighting. Larry, you have to have hope and faith that he will pull through. After everything we've been through…"

Larry laughed bitterly. "After everything we've been through. You know, a couple of years ago, Balki and I had a pretty good life. We got into a lot of crazy mishaps together, but that's all they were: crazy mishaps. Then Balki went grocery shopping and just had to go running after some lady who left her magazine and everything changed. Now our crazy mishaps have turned into intensifying horrible events. We've uncovered revenge plots, been kidnapped, nearly killed, witnessed murders, been blackballed by family and now this. When does it end, Bianca?"

Bianca recoiled, feeling as if he had literally slapped her. Surely he wasn't going to say-

"I can honestly say that I wish Balki and I had never met you. Breaking up with Jennifer was a huge mistake. You were never good for me. I thought you were, but you have been nothing but _poison_ since your stupid time machine showed up."

Bianca stood up, tears pouring and heart breaking. The truth had finally been said. Larry Appleton and Balki Bartokomous would be better off without her. "Larry, I-" she began, but her voice couldn't break free from the emotional grip.

"I never want to see you again. Please, just go. I want to forget. I just want to forget everything…"

Bianca choked on a fresh wave of sobs as she fled the hospital and out into the street._ I just want to die….._

* * *

Larry started to chase after her, but when he turned around, they were no longer in the hospital. Larry was standing in the living room of the apartment and Balki was well and standing beside him. In front of them stood a very emotional Bianca, holding something behind her back. "Bianca, I didn't mean it. It was just part of a dream. You have to believe me," Larry stated, walking towards her.

Bianca then revealed the object she was hiding and Larry audibly gasped. It was a gun of some sort. He gasped again as she aimed it straight at them.

"Bianca," Balki tried. "What that is? You don't have to be upset. It was only a bad part of the dream. See? Balki is fit as a Fiddle Faddle."

"I'm so sorry, guys, but I don't see any other way," Bianca sobbed, still aiming the gun at them. "The dreams are right. You were both better off without me. Now I can do something about it. I can make you forget. Forget you ever met me. You won't have your post-traumatic stress disorder and Balki won't be worried about you or me anymore."

"Bianca, I'm trying to _tell_ you that the dream couldn't be farther from the truth, but I need you to listen. There is something very important I need to tell you," Larry argued, trying not to panic and stare at the gun barrel. How on Earth could he tell her _anything_ in _this_ terrible dream?

"Oh, Bianca, I need to tell you something important, too. I meant to tell Cousin, but we were in the nightmare and I had a punctuation lung," Balki realized, causing Larry to look at him, eyebrow raised.

"No, I'm sorry. I have to do this. It won't hurt but for just a second, I promise," Bianca rattled on, crying so hard, Larry wondered how she could see at all. "I'm so terribly sorry for all the pain I've caused. You shouldn't have had to try and make a decision on who to be with. And Balki, you shouldn't have had to lie about the time machine and see the terrible things you had to see. Goodbye."

"No, _wait_!" Larry cried out, sweat and tears mixing on his face. "This is just a dream, right? We can wake up! WAKE UP, LARRY!" he yelled, total panic setting in.

"Ow! Cousin, I don't think this is a dream," Balki muttered.

Larry looked at him. "How do you know?"

"Because I pinched myself and it hurt."

Larry turned back to Bianca, eyes wide. "This is for _real_? You're really going to shoot us with that-that _thing_? Bianca, what are you _doing_?"

"I'm saying goodbye and doing what's best. I love you both, but I love you enough to let you go!" she wailed as she pointed the gun at Balki and fired.

"Balki!" Larry cried as a small dart went into Balki's neck and he fell on the floor with a thud. He then looked to her, hands up in protest. "Bianca, please; _please_ don't do this!"

"I love you, Larry. I'm so-"

He never heard her finish, however as she fired again, hitting him in the neck and everything went black.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Both Serge and Greg turned around to see the time machine appear and a very distraught Bianca stagger out. She was crying so hard, Greg swore he heard her gag.

"Miss Bianca! What on Earth is wrong?" Serge began, but Greg saw what Bianca had with her inside the time machine and he spun her around to face him. "Bianca, what did you do?" he asked sternly, placing both hands on her shoulders and shaking her.

"I did what I had to! I did nothing but make their lives miserable…they had to forget!" she wailed, barely able to stand.

Greg glanced back at the gun and sure enough, it was the Selective Memory Eraser gun he and Henry had fixed. "Oh my God; you used it on Larry and Balki to make them forget-"

"Me and everything to do with me," she finished, latching onto Serge, who was crying with her. "Oh, Larry, Balki, why? Why?"

Greg ran a hand through his hair and tried to calm himself down. What could have possessed her to use the gun on Larry and Balki? The dreams were just _that_; dreams, but for some reason, they had meant much more to Bianca. Piece by piece, dream by dream, a bit of her was unraveling at the seams, but Greg had waited too late to notice. Now Bianca had done something so drastic…so life-changing…

"Don't you realize there is no undo button? No way to reverse this? What you've done-making them forget-you can't take it back!" Greg finally exploded. "What were you _thinking_?"

"Don't you speak to her like that, Greg! Miss Bianca is traumatized and although I have no idea what she did, she is too upset to have you yelling at her!" Serge barked.

Greg bristled. "You listen here, you artsy-fartsy…person. You see this gun? It makes people forget! She used the gun on Larry and Balki to make them forget her. Not just for a little while, but for _forever_! And now look at her; she already regrets it!"

"No, I don't regret it! I don't regret it at all! They're better off and I just have to accept it!" Bianca screamed before bolting from the living room and into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"Well, now you've gone and _done_ it, Mister. I hope you're happy," Serge glowered before he, too, retreated to the guest room and slammed the door.

Greg stood there, mouth open, not sure what to do or say. So he decided to do the only thing he could think of after a minute: he retreated to _his_ room and slammed the door.

* * *

"Miss Bianca?" Serge rapped on her door a few minutes later. He could hear her loud wails of despair all the way in his room and it broke his heart. He rarely allowed himself to get that close to someone, but she had not only chipped those protective walls down, she had busted through. "Miss Bianca, may I come in?"

When she didn't respond, he gently opened the door to find her lying face down on the bed, her head on her arms. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he cautiously placed a hand on her shoulder. "Miss Bianca, I am so, so sorry."

What Bianca did next surprised even Serge. In one quick move, she shot up from her position, throwing her arms around him and weeping into his white faux silk shirt.

"Shh, everything is going to be alright. Serge is here," he whispered, holding her and gently stroking her hair. He allowed her to do this for a few minutes before he pulled her away from him and looked into her swollen puffy eyes. "You know what would make you feel better?"

Bianca just stared at him, waiting.

"You need to come with me and get some fresh air. Go change, brush up your hair and make-up and we can go get milkshakes and do all _sorts_ of fun things!" he told her excitedly.

"I don't want to go anywhere or do anything. I just want to put on my sweatpants and be alone. I just lost the man I loved and one of my best friends because I was bad for them. I just need to stay away from people before I become bad for them, too," she told him, trying hard not to cry again.

"Oh, pish-posh," Serge waved her off. "If you're bad, then I am Audrey Hepburn. Although I wouldn't mind having her magnificent bone structure," he added.

"Serge, please. Just go and do whatever. If you want to go back to Beverly Hills, I'll understand."

"You know what I think? I think that not everything is lost. If you and your friends from the past truly mean as much to each other as I think, they will never be able to truly forget you. Somewhere, I know there has to be a flicker of a memory of a Miss Bianca inside of them."

Bianca looked at him as he stood up from the bed and walked out. The last words he heard her say were, "But as much as I may want that, that is the _last_ thing that can happen."

* * *

"This is Alek Remmler for the _third_ time. Look, something is wrong and I need to know what it is. Call me back," Alek angrily said into his cell phone before hanging up. He had been sitting in his truck for the past fifteen minutes, wondering what to do. He couldn't get in touch with Henry for days and that wasn't like him. Or at least it wasn't before Jacob's will reading. Jacob had given Bianca a DVD in his will and Henry had intercepted it on her behalf. Henry was supposed to give it to Bianca for her to watch, with instructions to contact Alek afterward. But the will reading had been nearly a week ago and Alek had heard nothing. He had been given a copy of the DVD, as well, so he knew what was on it. It had stunned even Alek, who was for the most part, unflappable. So that's when he decided to also make a VHS copy for Balki and Larry to see, just in case the DVD never made it to Bianca. It hadn't been easy sneaking into Henry's house and using his time machine to go back to nineteen eighty seven to mail it, but he did. At least Bianca would have _had_ to discover the truth now. But sadly, things kept getting stranger. Bianca still had not contacted him and when Alek went _back_ to nineteen eighty seven, what he found stunned him. The tape had been watched, for it was on Balki and Larry's coffee table in the living room, but the men themselves were unconscious, tiny darts sticking out of their necks. Thankfully, they weren't dead, but they were in a deep sleep. Someone definitely did not want Bianca to see-or hear-about what was on the DVD. But just what lengths were they willing to go? Was Henry himself that desperate to keep the past a secret? Either way, he had to find out what was going on before Bianca herself ended up in grave danger.

"Hang on, Bianca; I'm coming to tell you everything and to make sure you know the truth," he said as he started the engine. After all, the truth would possibly set her free.

Suddenly, he smelled a foul odor coming from his car. It smelled like a cross between turpentine and kerosene. Alek's eyes grew wide and he reached for the door handle to open the door….but it was too late.

The man across the street adjusted the hood of his sweatshirt and watched as the truck exploded into flames before turning around and walking away. "One down, so many more to go," he said with a grin.


	14. Chapter 14

**Epilogue**

_Two weeks later…_

Bianca numbly sipped her hot cocoa and curled up on the sofa with her laptop. It had taken a week and a half, but at least Greg and Serge had stopped hovering. It still pained her to look at her time machine, knowing that she could no longer go to her favorite place. Larry and Balki's apartment was no longer a welcome abode of love and happiness, but a restriction. They no longer had any recollection of her and that was how it had to be. At least they could go on and live their lives with Jennifer and Mary Anne and she could go on with whatever.

Suddenly, her laptop chimed to let her know that she had left a DVD inside. "Greg, what have you been watching on my laptop?" she asked aloud, ejecting it. When she saw it, she grimaced. It was the DVD she had found at her grandfather's house. The DVD package addressed to _her_. "Guess there's no time like the present," she muttered, closing the DVD drive again and waiting for the pop-up to suggest it was ready for play.

_Knock knock._

"R.O.B.! Someone is at the door!" she called out, her finger moving the mouse cursor to 'Play'.

When R.O.B., Greg nor Serge came down to answer it, she groaned and set her laptop on the coffee table. "Fine. I'll get it."

The person on the other side knocked again. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Bianca barked before opening the door. When she saw the familiar face on the other side, her jaw nearly hit the floor. It couldn't be-

"Bianca! Bet you thought I had forgotten all about you!" he said, grabbing her and hugging her tightly.

"Oh my God! Bryan! How could I forget an old friend of the family?" she cried out happily, returning the hug. _Finally, _she thought, _someone to get my mind off of my disastrous life. Hopefully, this will be a turn in a new direction for me. A new chapter without Larry Appleton and Balki Bartokomous._


End file.
